"I didn't
think I'd be doing that today," Visone said. "When you see something like that, you're
acting on impulse."

The guys were doing their regular collections on Gaynor Street when they smelled and spotted smoke coming from one of the houses on Pitney Avenue. In the short amount of time it took them to run around the block, flames from the fast-moving blaze were shooting out of the roof of one of the houses.

After checking to make sure that
somebody had called 911, the guys began ringing door bells and knocking on
doors.

"We were yelling, 'Fire, fire, get out!" Cocuzza said, adding that they convinced one woman who wanted to go back into her house that it wasn't safe because the home next door was on fire.

"I was kind of shaken up, hoping everybody was okay," Visone said. " It was very upsetting."

"Sanitation Workers going about their collection duties have proven
again that they are the extra pair of eyes watching over our fellow
citizens," said the new Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.

"The quick actions of Sanitation Workers Jay Visone and August Cocuzza...saved lives today.

"These
Sanitation Workers are the embodiment of dedicated public servants --
taking quick action in time of need and still completing their regular
collection routes. They embody the Sanitation Department's dedication to
public health and safety in the City."

Cocuzza said that "one girl was hysterical crying."

"These are our New York City heroes," said Christopher Abbate, district superintendent for Staten Island.

James Buckner, foreman of the Staten Island District 3 Garage where the men work, said that what they did was "fabulous. We're always getting negative press, between picking up garbage and snow we can't make people happy."